He Yuxin, a 19-year-old actress, performs basic martial arts skills outside a rehearsal room. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

Like He, most Qinqiang Opera performers with the troupe began their training at a young age, with early morning exercises usually accompanying them throughout their lives.

Qu Peng, a skilled performer specializing in laosheng (elderly male roles) and xusheng (roles for middle-aged males requiring beards), and who starred in a recent Yisushe production, began learning Qinqiang Opera when he was 13.

In addition to basic skills, every performer needs to practice daily, Qu said that by following in the footsteps of renowned artists with the Yisu Art Troupe, he can master the essence of Qinqiang Opera.

"Some retired artists who specialized in the art form occasionally visit the courtyard at the Yisu Grand Theater to take us through the operas scene by scene," he said. "Once, when I was not in the theater, they were anxious to know where I was."

The 40-year-old, now starring in a newly written Qinqiang Opera as Li Bai, a renowned poet during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), responds to constructive criticism during each rehearsal, not only from the director, but also from performers and musicians.

Qu, a Shaanxi native, said: "There is always someone to learn from. One director told me how my singing needed to be adjusted. When the musicians feel they have become disconnected from my singing, they immediately point this out during each rehearsal.

"It's a process of mutual cooperation through communication, and just because I'm the actor, this does not mean I'm right every time."